Raft.



S. & F. FAILLACI.

RAFT.

APPLICATION FILED JULYZG, 191s.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

COLUMBIA PMNOORAI'H 0. WASHINGTON,.D- C.

SALVATORE FAILLACI AND FRANCESCO FAILLACI, 0F CONEY ISLAND, NEW YORK.

RAFT.

Application filed July 26, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, SALVATORE FAILLAOI and FRANCESCO FAILLACI, both citizens of Italy, residing at Coney Island, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rafts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rafts, the object in view being to produce a raft of sectional and knock-down construction, the construction as hereinafter particularly set forth providing for taking down the rafts at the end of a watering season or at any desired time and compactly storing the parts thereof many of which are foldable so as to occupy but small space. The assembling of the parts of the raft is accomplished with equal facility, the result being a raft of any desired size which may be used for a variety of purposes such as a swimming or bathing raft at water resorts.

WVith the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construc tion, combination and arrangement of parts, as herein described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is aside elevation on a small scale of a raft embodying the present invention as shown in its complete form. Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the raft showing the masts in section and omitting the gas bag. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. l is a fragmentary vertical lon gitudina-l section on the line 4l l of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the main floor sections.

The raft contemplated in this invention may be constructed of any desired size and longitudinal and transverse dimensions, the raft which is illustrated in plan view in Fig. 2 being shown as rectangular and composed of a plurality of main sections designated respectively at A, B, C and D, all of said sections being of one size and meeting at a common central point a adjacent to which each raft section is provided with a samson post 1, four of said samson posts being shown in Fig. 2, a rope or cable 2 being wrapped around the posts in succession as shown in said view so as to draw the sections of the raft together and hold them in proper Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

Serial No. 41,931.

alinement with each other while assembling the remainder of the structure.

In its entirety the raft comprises a plurality of buoyant members or floats 3 any number of which may be employed in accordance with the size and capacity of the complete raft. These floats are shown in cross section in Fig. 4 as of hollow planoconvex construction, each float comprising a substantially horizontal upper side or wall 4 and a substantially semi-circular bottom or wall 5, the floor sections hereinafter more particularly described being secured to the floats 3 in fixed relation thereto by means of fasteners 6 such as thumb screws or bolts.

Each of the raft sections A, B, C and D comprises a main floor section a fragment of one of which is shown in perspective View in Fig. 5 wherein it will be seen that each floor section is composed of a number of planks or boards 7, each of said boards or planks having a terminal section 8 which is hinged thereto as shown at 9, the purpose of which will presently appear. The planks or boards 7 are hinged together along their longitudinal edges as shown at 10 and by reference to Fig. 4 it will be observed that the hinges 10 are arranged alternately at the top and bottom of the meeting edges of the boards so as to enable a complete floor section to be folded like a bellows as shown in Fig. 5 thus rendering it possible to compactly store or ship such portion of the raft.

lVhen the floor sections are spread out as shown in Fig. 2, they are held in a common plane by means of a plurality of bars or cleats 11, two of such bars or cleats being shown for each raft section. The bars 11 are adapted to be slid longitudinally of the raft and transversely of the boards 7 through bail-shaped keepers 12 which have their opposite extremities pivotally secured to the floor of the raft by means of eyes 13. This enables the keepers 12 to be folded flat against the boards to which they are fastened when the floor section is collapsed and folded in the manner shown in Fig. 5 and above described. It is also preferred to make the bars or cleats 11 of each raft section of different lengths as best shown in Fig. 2 so that the bar 11 of one raft section will overlap the central transverse joint 14 where the sections come together and it is also preferred to connect the adjacent ends of longitudinally alined bar 11 by means of hooks 15. Under the arrangement referred to the entire floor structure of the raft is thoroughly braced. The terminal sections 8 are folded upwardly as shown in Fig. i to form oppositely arranged parallel guard rails designated generally at E in Fig. 2 and each of said sections 8 is provided with a foldable keeper 16 similar to those 12 hereinabove described, the last named keepers being adapted to receive other bars or cleats 17. These bars hold the terminal sections 8 in perfect alinem'ent and brace and reinforce the guard rails E formed by said terminal sections 8.

The end planks or boards 7 of the floor sections are extended upwardly at right angles to the floor to form end guard rails F which are connected at the corners to the longitudinal guard rails E by means of hooks 18 or equivalent fastening devices. Other hooks 19 connect the transversely alined sections of the guard rails F. Other short bars 20 extend through keepers 21 similar to the keepers 12 above described, the bars 20 extending across the central longitudinal joint 22 between the raft sections so as to maintain the different raft sections in horizontal alinement.

To enhance the buoyancy, efliciency and attractiveness of the raft, I provide each of the raft sections with a mast 23 which is provided at its upper extremity with a flange 24: from which guys 25 radiate and are connected to the main body of the raft as indicated in Fig. 1. Hand ropes or cables 26 may also be extended from a lower flange 27 to each mast of the guard rails E and F so that passengers may take hold of said ropes and preserve their balance in a rough sea or in case of waves washing over the raft.

28 designates a balloon or gas bag which is anchored above the plane of the tops of the masts by means of guys 29 arranged in any convenient way and connected to the masts 23 through the medium of the top flanges 24.

From the foregoing description, it will now be seen that after the removal of the gas bag, the masts may be taken off the raft Cir quickly assembling the parts of the raft.

If desired, the end guards F may be additionally braced bv the curved corner braces 30 arranged at suitable intervals and fastened at one end as shown at 31 to the respective guard rail F and similarly fastened at the opposite end to the adjacent plank or board 7 of the floor.

What we claim is 1. A raft structure embodying a plurality of rectangular sections meeting at a common central point, samson posts carried by the raft sections adjacent to the inner meeting corners thereof, a flexible tie passing successively around said posts, and means for fastening the raft sections together along their outer marginal portions.

2. A raft structure embodying a plurality of rectangular sections meeting at a common central point, samson posts carried by the raft sections adj acentto the inner meeting corners thereof, a flexible tie passing successively around said posts, means for fastening the raft sections together along their outer marginal portions, hinged and foldable keepers arranged in longitudinal series, and bars insertible through said keepers and removable therefrom.

3. A raft structure embodying a plurality of rectangular sections meeting at a common central point, samson posts carried by the raft sections adj acentto thev inner meeting corners thereof, a flexibletie passing successively around said posts, means for fastening the raft sections together along their outer marginal portions, hinged and foldable keepers arranged in longitudinal series, bars insertible through said keepers and removable therefrom, said bars being of unequal lengths so as to overlap the central transverse joint between. the raft sections, and connecting means between the longitudinally alined bars.

a. A raft structure embodying a plurality of rectangular sections meeting at a common central point, samson posts carried by the raft sections adjacent to the inner meeting corners thereof, a flexible tie passing successively around said posts, means for fastening the raft sections together along their outer marginal portions, hinged and foldable keepers arranged in longitudinal series, and bars insertible through said keepers and removable therefrom, other keepers arranged in transverse alinement with each other, and additional bars in engagement with said transversely alined keepers.

5. A raft structure embodying a plurality of similar sections in longitudinal and transverse alinement, means for fastening the raft sections together in fixed relation, a mast carried by each section, guys connecting said masts to their respective sections, a gas bag, and guys connecting said gas bag with said masts.

6. In a raft structure, a plurality of raft sections each embodying a floor composed of boards hinged together along their marginal edges so as to fold in zig-zag form, buoyant members to which the floor sections are fastened, means for maintaining the members of each floor section in alinement with each other, guard rails formed by hinged terminal portions of the boards 10 which compose the floor sections, and a bar common to the terminal sections of each floor section for preserving said terminal sections in alinement with each other.

In testimony whereof We affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

SALVATORE FAILLACI. FRANCESCO FAILLACI. Vitnesses FELICE DENEGRO, ROSOLINO INSINNA.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

